Charmed: Something Wicca This Way Comes
"Something Wicca This Way Comes" is the pilot episode of the television series Charmed. Directed by John T. Kretchmer and Bruce Seth Green, it first aired on the WB Network on October 7th, 1998. In this episode, the Halliwell sisters, Prue, Piper and Phoebe are brought together in the venerable mansion of their late grandmother where they discover an ancient tome known as the Book of Shadows. After reading from the book, they inherit supernatural abilities and become known as the "Charmed Ones". The sisters decide to use their new abilities for the benefit of mankind. Synopsis A man in a dark coat and hat breaks into an unsuspecting woman's San Francisco home. The woman is a witch and she is in the middle of a ritual when the man, someone she recognizes, approaches her. Taking her own mystical dagger, he stabs her in the stomach, killing her. San Francisco homicide detectives Andy Trudeau and Darryl Morris arrives on the scene to investigate. Andy mentions that this is the third witch-related killing in the past several weeks. Morris scoffs at the notion, indicating that he doesn't believe in supernatural oddities such as witches. Meanwhile, sisters Prue and Piper Halliwell are living at the large house they inherited from their grandmother. Piper gives Prue the news that their sister, Phoebe, is moving from New York to San Francisco to live with them. This distresses Prue greatly as there is a lot of bad blood between Phoebe and she. Just as she asks when she will be arriving, Phoebe opens the door. Piper tries to be the voice of reason and struggles to maintain peace between the two sisters. While going through some stuff, Phoebe finds an intricately carved spirit board that the girls used to play with when they were children. Phoebe begins using the board and is stricken when she notices the planchette moving all by itself. The pointer spells out the word "Attic". The attic door has been locked for years, but Phoebe manages to find her way inside. She goes through a musty crate and finds a dusty old tome known as the Book of Shadows. The book, which once belonged to an ancestor, contains an inscription which speaks of the "Power of Three". Phoebe reads the inscription aloud and within short order, strange things begin to occur. All three sisters inherit supernatural abilities. Phoebe develops precognitive visions. Piper discovers that she can stop time and Prue learns that she has telekinesis. defend themselves.]] Over the next few days, each of the sisters unwittingly begin using their powers in moments of stress. Prue gets into an argument with her employer and former lover Roger at the Natural History Museum and telekinetically causes his pocket pen to explode. She then unconsciously causes his necktie to begin choking him. Piper is at the restaurant where she is a chef and gets into an argument with a man named Chef Moore. She stops time in the middle of the argument. Phoebe is riding home on her bicycle when she receives a premonition of two kids getting into a traffic accident. She veers her bicycle to intercept them and skids across the road. She diverts the car from hitting them, but suffers several lacerations as a result. Piper and Prue go to see her at the hospital and Prue runs into Andy Trudeau. The two once dated each other, but now Andy is on the job. He mentions that somebody has been targeting witches and wants the girls to stay safe. Andy has no idead that Prue and the others are now witches themselves. Later, Piper has dinner at her boyfriend Jeremy Burns' place. Afterward, he brings her to an old warehouse where he promises to give her a surprise. As they take the elevator, Jeremy mentions Phoebe. Piper wonders how he could have known that Phoebe was back in town. It then becomes apparent that Jeremy is the man who has been killing witches. He is a warlock and has been murdering other practitioners so he can then steal their power. As he lunges for Piper, Piper freezes time and manages to escape. When the spell dissolves, Jeremy chases after her. Piper gets back to the manor and warns the others. Jeremy bursts through the door and tries to ensnare them with a variety of mystical effects. Prue remembers the inscription on the spirit board. As Jeremy starts a circle of fire to destroy the sisters, they start chanting, "The Power of Three will set us free." Jeremy taunts the sisters as they chant, warning them that he's the first of many evil beings they'll encounter. The counter-spell proves effective however and Jeremy's body explodes. Later, the three sisters realize that their lives are forever different now and that they must do what they can to watch over one another. Cast Principal Cast Guest Stars Notes & Trivia * This episode is included on disc one of the Charmed: The Complete First Season DVD collection and disc seven of the Charmed: The Complete Series DVD collection. * Production code number 1498704. * This is the first canonical episode of the series. An unaired pilot was produced, which featured the same script, but with two alternate cast members. Lori Rom played Phoebe Halliwell prior to the casting of Alyssa Milano and Chris Boyd played Inspector Andy Trudeau prior to the casting of T.W. King. * The name of the episode is taken from the 1962 novel Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury. It becomes a common trait in the series to use episode titles that are puns on famous pop culture references. * The dagger that belonged to the first witch is called an athame. * Although Jeremy Burns dies in this episode, he is briefly resurrected in the season two premiere, "Witch Trial". Allusions * Andy Trudeau intones the phrase, "Enquiring minds want to know". This was a slogan associated to the tabloid journal The National Enquirer, which boasted the phrase in it's television advertisements. * A reference is made to Nancy Drew in this episode. Nancy Drew is a fictional character in a juvenile fiction mystery fiction series created by publisher Edward Stratemeyer. The character first appeared in 1930; the books have been ghostwritten by a number of authors and are published under the collective pseudonym Carolyn Keene. The character has also been featured in The Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries series from 1977 and the 1995 Nancy Drew syndicated television series. Quotes * Prue Halliwell: Oh my God. What is it? What's wrong? * Piper Halliwell: Quick! Lock the doors, check the windows. We don't have a lot of time. Phoebe, in the Book of Shadows, did it say how to get rid of a… * Phoebe Halliwell: …warlock? * Prue Halliwell: Oh my God. .... * Phoebe Halliwell: Are you okay? * Prue Halliwell: No, I'm not okay! You turned me into a witch. * Phoebe Halliwell: You were born one. We all were. And I think we better start learning to deal with that. .... * Prue Halliwell: You checked up on me? * Andy Trudeau: I wouldn't call it that. * Prue Halliwell: What would you call it? * Andy Trudeau: Uh... "enquiring minds wanna know"? * Prue Halliwell: You checked up on me. .... * Piper Halliwell: Phoebe! Welcome home! It's so good to see you. Isn't it, Prue? * Prue Halliwell: I'm speechless. .... * Andy Trudeau: Good morning! (He's holding a paper and a cup of coffee.) * Prue Halliwell: Hey, this is a surprise. * Andy Trudeau: I've been feeling really guilty about that bad cup of coffee. I just want to make it up to you. * Prue Halliwell: So, you brought me a good cup of coffee? * Andy Trudeau: Oh this? No, this is mine. I, uh, just wanted to ask you out to dinner. Unless of course you're afraid. * Prue Halliwell: Afraid of what? * Andy Trudeau: Oh, you know, having too good a time, stirring up old memories, rekindling the old flame. * Prue Halliwell: Hmm, good point, better not. * Andy Trudeau: Okay. Friday night, eight o'clock? You're hesitating. * Prue Halliwell: Yeah, but it's not what you think. It's just that my life has gotten a bit complicated. Can I call you? * Andy Trudeau: Sure. (He gives her his card.) * Andy Trudeau: Take care, Prue. * Prue Halliwell: Bye, Andy. .... * Phoebe Halliwell: It's Andy. I told you I heard a man's voice. * Piper Halliwell: What did he want? * Prue Halliwell: He asked me out. * Piper Halliwell: And you said...? * Prue Halliwell: Well, I started to say yes, and then I stopped. I wondered if I could date. I mean, do witches date? * Piper Halliwell: Not only do they date but they usually get the best guys. * Prue Halliwell: You two will not be laughing when this happens to you. Believe me, everything will be different now. * Phoebe Halliwell: Well, at least our lives won't be boring. * Prue Halliwell: But they'll never be the same. * Phoebe Halliwell: And this is a bad thing? * Prue Halliwell: No. But it could be a big problem. * Piper Halliwell: Prue's right. What are we gonna do? * Phoebe Halliwell: What can't we do? * Prue Halliwell: We're going to be careful, we're going to be wise, and we're gonna stick together. * Piper Halliwell: This should be interesting. See also External Links * * * * "Something Wicca This Way Comes" at Wikipedia * * * * ---- Category:1998/Episodes Category:Robert Del Valle/Coordinating producer Category:Episodes with crew categories Category:Episodes with plot summaries